“I should know better than to keep things from you.”
Indeed. Would you like me to go rip off Jareth’s arm?
He scratched her head.
“As much as I’d love to see it, you can’t do that.”
You’re no fun.
Raine shook his head. He stopped in the middle of aclearing deep in the forest, unsheathing a dagger and whipping it toward the trunk of a large tree. It pierced the bark with ease. Sending a vine to retrieve it, he repeated the motion. Again, and again he threw the dagger, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.
And as he took out his grief on the tree, his mind wandered back to that day.
The worst day of his life.
“I found us a house,”Raine said with excitement, seated at the table with his father and sister in the farmhouse kitchen.
“Where?” Fanya asked brightly.
“Not far from here.”
Raine’s father sipped his wine. His short brown hair almost gold in the firelight, matching the stubble on his face. “I’m happy to have the two of you so close to me,” he said.
“When does Finnick return?” Fanya asked. “Have you told him about the house?”
“He should arrive in a couple of days. No, I haven’t told him. It’s a surprise.”
“I’m so happy for you, brother.” Fanya reached across the table and grasped his hand.
Raine was ecstatic. He’d met the love of his life and couldn’t wait to surprise him with the home he’d purchased. Couldn’t wait to marry him and spend the rest of their days together. Finnick was loyal and kind. Good down to his very core. And soon Raine would have the honor of calling him his husband.
A frantic pounding on the door jarred him. Raine’s father rose from the table. “Now who could that be at this hour?”
His father answered, low voices murmured, setting Raine’s nerves on edge. Something was wrong. The door clicked shut and his father returned to the kitchen. Raine stood.
“What is it?” he whispered, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.
His father’s face fell. “There was an attack on the party Finnick was traveling with…”
“Please don’t say it,” Raine begged, his eyes blurring with tears. “Please…”
His father took a step forward, placing a gentle hand on Raine’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“There were no survivors.”
The room spun. Knees buckling, he collapsed to the floor.
And then Raine fell apart.
A snarl leftRaine’s lips as he flicked the dagger into the tree again, the bark now chipped away. It sunk deeper this time, all the way to the hilt. He stood there, glaring at the tree, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
“That poor tree,” Maeryn spoke from his left, startling him. “Though it might be easier to use an axe if you mean to cut it down.”
Raine let out a mirthless laugh. He strode forward and retrieved his blade, sheathing it on his thigh before he met Maeryn’s gaze. “I suppose you’re right.”
She leaned against a tree, arms crossed, kindness in her eyes. “You have been through a great heartbreak, no?”
